We will now explain at the beginning, the first use of the conventional Dappen collector, that is to say, as a collector for collecting amalgam.
Until now the conventional collector used in dental surgery was made simply of separate, interdependent pieces, in which the top part is hollow and holds the amalgam which the practitioner uses.
The amalgam, located in the a hollow cup part of the collector above mentioned, is taken with the help of an amalgam syringe, which deposits the contents into the patient's tooth. This operation is repeated as often as necessary, until the filling up of the hollow of the carious tooth is effected.
Normally, all the amalgam is not used, and as a result, the excess becomes waste that needs to be discarded. With the conventional collector, the excess amalgam is put away by tipping the cup in an uncontrolled way.
The inconvenience of this conventional collector, occurs during the tipping operation to remove and store the amalgam, with the danger that the unused amalgam spills instead of entering the receiver, or other kind of receptacle, thereby causing a danger of environmental pollution. It is also to underline that the traditional system of the above collector has also the inconvenience of allowing release of mercury vapours when the amalgam is not hardened, which is a well-known danger. The inconvenience above mentioned, compels the practitioner or his assistant, to lose time with particular attention to this matter.